Watervliet commences summer paving program
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » Mayor Charles Patricelli announced the city has kicked off its summer repair of city streets with the repaving of Andrewsville Court.
Those streets also included within this year’s plan are: • Avenue B • City Hall parking lot • 1st Avenue (15th St to 13th St) • 3rd Avenue (19th St south to 15th St — with ADA curbing) • 23rd St and Broadway intersection • 10th St (4th Avenue to 8th Avenue) • 19th St patch (4th to 5th)
“We have also partnered with the Town of Colonie to replace 8th Ave from 1st St to 8th St. This is by far the worse street in the city,” Patricelli said. “We expect this to cost $100,000, just for our share of the project. We needed to wait for National Grid to upgrade its gas lines before we proceeded. They have finished their work and we can now proceed. Colonie is leading up the project and we expect work to begin late June or early July.”
The streets were selected based on the recommendations of the engineering firm, Barton & Loguidice which conducted a street condition survey. Each street was labeled with a number from one to five with one being the worst score. This established the baseline for what streets would receive the priority for replacement. The city is the 2021 Citywide Road Condition report that identified every road in the City in its current condition and identified these streets to be condition one. All other roads will be monitored annually and move thru the rating process as we go forward.
In addition, many streets will receive a filling in the cracks to help extend the life of the streets. This material will extend the life of the existing roads slowing down the need for their new pavement.
The City Council, at its June 2, meeting, approved the resolution to award Best Paving the contract to pave several areas in the city. Best Paving turned in the lowest bid, which totaled $382,000. Contracts were reviewed and approved, which allowed work to begin on Andrewsville Court. The funds were made available for the project through the New York State CHIPS program, which awards funds to assist in the repair and replacement of city streets.
“Investing in our infrastructure is vital to any organization. Not much gets better over time, just gets worse and costs more. This is why we are working on as many overdue projects as financially possible, such as city hall windows and soffits. We will continue to protect our assets so the future will be a burden for residents at a later date. We do not believe in “kicking the can down the road,” Patricelli added.